Cigar wrapping machine



June 2, 1970 B. H. WALLACE 3,515,148

CIGAR WRAPPING MACHINE Filed June 4, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 EI b D ;1 \8

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June 2, 1970 EH. WALLACE CIGAR WRAPPING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheut 2 Filed June 4, 1968 I I llll/l/l/l /l 11% an ON June 2, 1970 B. H. WALLACE 3,515,148

CIGAR WRAPPING MACHINE Filed June 4, 1968 4 Sheets-Shea 5 June 2, 1970 B. H. WALLACE 3,51

CIGAR WRAPPING MACHINE Filed June 4, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ."nited, States Patent 3,515,148 Patented June 2, 1970 3,515,148 CIGAR WRAPPING MACHINE Bert H. Wallace, Uniondale, N.Y., assignor of fifteen percent to Michael Ebert, New York, NY. Filed June 4, 1968, Ser. No. 734,264 Int. Cl. A24c 1/26, 1/30 US. Cl- 131-59 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cigar wrapping machine comprising a pair of rotating chuck assemblies disposed in spaced relation and in axial alignment, each assembly being provided with a set of rollers which turn about respective axes at right angles to the axis of chuck rotation and which frictionally engage a tobacco rod passing through the assemblies. The rollers function to advance the rod along its longitudinal axis as the rod is concurrently rotated by the assemblies. Supplied to a wrapping zone in the space between the spaced assemblies bridged by the cigar rod along a path obliquely directed with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rod, is a strip of wrapper material to whose undersurface paste is applied, the strip being wound on the rotating and advancing rod to form a helical wrapper thereabout.

This invention relates generally to machines for manufacturing cigars, and in particular to improved apparatus for winding a strip of wrapper material about a tobacco rod as the rod is axially advanced and concurrently rotated.

In modern techniques for producing cigars, use is now made of reconstituted rather than leaf tobacco for binders and wrappers. An important advantage of reconstituted tobacco is that it can be formed in long strips and wound on large supply reels. The cigar rod is constituted by filler tobacco which is enclosed by the binder strip, the strip being folded about the filler with its longitudinal edges overlapping to form a pasted seam to define a cylinder. Currently, it is the practice to produce a cigar rod continuously on machinery of the type heretofore used in cigarette-making for enclosing filler tobacco in a paper tube, rather than by conventional cigar bunchmaking machinery.

In winding operations, the wrapper strip is supplied obliquely to the advancing cigar rod, the rod at the, same time rotating about its longitudinal axis whereby the strip is caused to wind spirally thereabout. While machines presently used to fabricate cigar rods are capable of functioning at high speed, the rate of cigar production is essentially determined by the speed of the wrapping machine which is usually much slower. Hence the productive capacity of the rod-making machine is not fully realized, for the output thereof cannot be wrapped as fast as the rod is made.

Attempts have been made to increase the speed of wrapping, but in machines heretofore developed for this purpose, the increase attained in wrapping speed has been at the expense of the integrity of the cigar, for such machines have a tendency to apply rubbing and other forces to the cigar rod when imparting trans lational and rotary movements thereto, as a consequence of which unraveling and other defects are encountered in the final product.

Accordingly, it is the main object of this invention to provide a cigar-wrapping machine which may be used in tandem with a rod-making machine or separately therefrom, and which is capable of winding a strip of wrapper material about a cigar rod or similar body at exceptionally high speed without injury to the rod, whereby the resultant product is of good quality.

A significant feature of the invention is that it may be used in conjunction with a high-speed cigar rod machine to wind a wrapper strip about the rod emerging from the machine at the same production rate, so that full advantage may be taken of the productive capacity of the rod-making machine.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a cigar-wrapping machine in which the rod is advanced along its longitudinal axis through axiallyaligned rotating chuck assemblies, the rod passing through the assemblies and being engaged therein by rollers turning at right angles to the axis of rotation, whereby the rollers act to impart a translational movement to the rod while it is simultaneously rotated.

Also an object of the invention is to provide a cigarwrapping machine of the above-described type which operates efliciently and reliably at high speed and which may be manufactured at relatively low cost.

Briefly stated, these objects are accomplished in a cigar-wrapping machine comprising two spaced housings on which there are rotatably mounted a pair of chuck assemblies, a wrapping zone being created between the housings. The rod to be wrapped passes through aligned openings in the chuck assemblies and is engaged in each assembly by a set of rollers which turn about respective axes at right angles to the axis of chuck rotation, whereby the rollers function to impart a translational movement to advance the rod along its longitudinal axis as the rod is smultaneously rotated by the assemblies.

Supplied to the wrapping zone in a path obliquely directed with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rod, is a continuous strip of wrapper material to whose underface a suitable paste is applied, the strip being wound spirally about the rod to form a helical wrapper. The wrapped rod may then be cut by a conventional slicer to form individual cigars which may be further processed, as by shaping, tipping, and packaging machinery.

For a better understanding of the invention, as well as other objects and further features thereof, reference is made to the following detailed description to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one preferred embodiment of a cigar-wrapping machine in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken longitudinally through the chuck assemblies included in the machine,

FIG. 3 is in part a front elevationa of the machine and in part a transverse section thereof taken in the plane indicated by line 33 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken transversely in the plane indicated by line 4-4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken transversely in the plane indicated by line 5-5 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 shows separately the rod back-up guide; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of another preferred embodiment of the invention.

\Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, the major components of one preferred embodiment of a cigar-wrapping machine based on the present invention, are a pair of chuck assemblies disposed is spaced face-to-face relation and in axial alignment, the assemblies being generally designated by numerals 10 and 11. The chuck assemblies are supported for rotation on bearings mounted in suitable housing 12 and 13, above a common bed-plate 14. Fed into the wrapping zone created between the housings is a strip 16 of wrapping material for-med from reconstituted tobacco and 3 drawn from a supply thereof on a wrapper reel unwind unit 15.

Supported on top of the bearing housing 12 is a roller paster 17 of conventional design. The undersurface of the strip has a layer of paste applied thereto, the strip then entering an applicator guide assembly 18 which directs the strip against the cigar rod 19 bridged between the chuck assemblies in the wrapping zone.

In operation, the cigar rod, which emerges from a rodmaking machine RM which may be of any known design, passes directly into the aligned passages or channels in the rotating chuck assemblies, the assemblies functioning to simultaneously rotate the rod and to advance it forwardly to a cutting station (not shown). As rod 19 advances and rotates, the wrapper strip spirals thereabout to form a helical wrapper 19A. When used in tandem with a cigar rod-maker, speed control means are provided to synchronize the operation of the two machines.

As best seen in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the two chuck assemblies have identical structures. Hence only one assembly will now be described in detail. The assembly on the left side of FIG. 2 includes a head member 20, having a central passage which is formed by a tubular portion 20A. Disposed within this central passage is a tubular liner 21 providing a passage for cigar rod 19. In practice the liner is made of a material such as Teflon having a low coefficient of friction or the internal wall thereof is highly polished to afford a low-friction surface.

The tubular portion 20A of the head member 20 extends into the bearing housing 12 and is supported therein for rotation by a pair of bearings, only one of which (23) is shown. Rotation of the chuck assembly is effected by a continuous V-belt 24, which encircles a pulley 25 mounted on the tubular portion 20A of the head member, the belt being driven by an external drive shaft 26, as shown in FIG. 5. Thus as drive shaft 26 is caused to turn by a motor (not shown) or if the wrapping ma chine is in tandem with a rod-maker, by the drive shaft of the rod-maker, the entire chuck assembly rotates about the longitudinal axis of the cigar rod 19.

Disposed within the chuck assembly is a set of rollers 27 which frictionally engage the surface of cigar rod 19, the set consisting of three rollers displaced 120 from each other. In practice, however, only two rollers may be used 180 apart, or four rollers 90 apart, or an even greater number in equi-spaced relation to provide continuous frictional driving contact with the cigar rod.

Rollers 27 are mounted for rotation on shafts 28 running in bearings 29, each shaft terminating in a gear 30 which intermeshes with a gear 31. Gear 31 in turn is mounted at one end of a shaft 32 rotating in a bearing 33. A gear 34 mounted at the other end of shaft 32 intermeshes with a gear 36 disposed concentrically about inner tube 21, gear 36 being fixedly connected to housing 12.

Thus gears 34, as best seen in FIG. 4, for turning the shafts of the rollers in the set thereof are planetary gears arranged in an orbit about fixed gear 36 which serves as a sun gear, and when the head member 20 of the assembly is caused to rotate about the longitudinal axis of the cigar rod, the rollers carried by the assembly are caused to rotate about their own axes, thereby advancing the cigar rod axially as the rod is rotated.

The reel-unwinding unit 15 is provided with a web tension control system 37 such as that shown in Wallace Pat. 3,349,777. After paste is applied to the undersurface of the strip by roller paster 17, the strip enters a guide assembly 18, which includes an applicator guide member 38 mounted on a vertical post 39. Guide 38, as best seen in FIG. 6, is an open channel-shaped block of hard, lowfriction material serving to supply back-up to the cigar rod as the latter advances across the guide and simulta- 4 neously rotates to draw in the wrapper strip to form a helical wrapper which adheres to the cigar rod.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the alternative embodiment herein shown differs from that in the previous figures only in the' character of the drive for advancing the cigar rod. To this end, non-slip belts 40 are provided which run between sprocket wheels 41. Each wheel 41 is mounted on a shaft 46. Each wheel 42 is mounted on a shaft 44 which also carries a gear 43. Gears 43 are driven by meshing gears 45 which are coupled to planetary gears 34 operated in the same manner as the planetary gears shown in the previous figures.

While there have been shown and described preferred embodiments of cigar wrapping machine in accordance with the invention, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the essential spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for spiralling a strip of wrapping material about a cigar rod constituted by filler tobacco enclosed in a cylindrical binder to form a helical wrapper thereabout, said machine comprising:

(a) first and second chuck assemblies disposed in spaced relation, said assemblies having channels therein in axial alignment to receive said cigar rod, said rod being bridged therebetween to define a wrapping zone, said channels having diameters greater than that of the rod whereby the rod is free to move therein, said assemblies each including drive means having an arcuate portion extending into said channel and tangentially engaging the rod at circumferentially spaced points therearound to advance same axially,

(-b) means to rotate said assemblies at the same rate whereby said axially-advancing rod is simultaneously rotated about its longitudinal axis,

(0) means to support said rod in said zone,

((1) means adjacent said support means to feed said strip to said rod in said wrapping zone to cause said strip to spiral thereabout, thereby forming a helical wrapper on said rod whereby the wrapped rod emerges from the second assembly, and

(e) means to feed cigar rods sequentially into said first assembly to cause the rod in the machine to be manipulated independently of the rods to follow.

2. A machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein means are provided for mounting a supply reel for said wrapper strip and said wrapper strip is unwound from said supply reel and is fed in an oblique path to said wrapping zone.

3. A machine as set forth in claim 2, further including means to apply paste to the underface of said strip before it is spiralled about said rod, whereby the helical wrapper is caused to adhere thereto.

4. A machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein said support means comprises an applicator guide formed of an open channel-shaped block disposed in said wrapping zone to supply back-up to said advancing rod.

5. A machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein each chuck assembly is constituted by a head member having a tubular portion forming a central passage, and a liner in said passage forming said channel for the passage of said rod.

6. A machine as set forth in claim 5, including drive means operatively coupled to said tubular portion to effect rotation of said chuck assembly.

7. A machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said arcuate portion of said means to advance said rod in each assembly is constituted by a set of rollers which tangentially engage the surface of the rod, the rollers being equi-spaced from each other about said rod and turning about axes at right angles to the axis of rotation of the assembly.

8. A machine as set forth in claim 7, wherein there 6 are two rollers in said set displaced 180 from each 3,152,595 10/1964 Silberman 131-59 other. 3,349,777 10/ 1967 Wallace 131-59 9. A machine as set forth in claim 7, wherein there are three rollers in said set displaced 120 from each FOREIGN PATENTS Other- 5 106,544 9/1924 Switzerland.

10. A machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said arcuate portion of said means to advance said rod in ALDRICH F. MEDBERY, Primary Examiner each assembly is constituted by a set of endless belts which tangentially engage the surface of the rod. CZERWONKY Asslstant Exammer 10 US. Cl. X.R.

References Cited 13 UNITED STATES PATENTS 590,629 9/1897 Richards 131-59 3,135,406 6/1964 Skarstrom 131-59 X 

